The main goal of the Arizona Fall League, founded in 1992, is to get prospects extra game reps during the minor league offseason. Some of the prospects that participate in the league missed extended time during the regular season, allowing them to make up at-bats or innings for pitchers. Additionally, clubs will send players to the AFL to get more looks when they have to make a decision as to whether or not to add that player to their 40-man roster.
The Arizona Fall League has been known to be a talent-filled league, with many top 100 prospects participating each year. This year, however, there’s potential for the Arizona Fall League to look very different.
Normally, each MLB club sends six prospects to the six-team league. The rosters are composed mainly of Double-A and Triple-A players. Teams are allowed to send no more than two players below Double-A.
According to Josh Norris and J.J. Cooper of Baseball America, there have been conversations about expanding the league and changing the format for the 2020 AFL season. The plan is in the development stages, according to the report, and in this plan each MLB club would be able to have a full roster of their own players and games would be played at spring training stadiums in Arizona and Florida.
With each day passing by, it’s seeming more and more likely that there won’t be a minor league season in 2020. Allowing each MLB club to have their own roster in the AFL would be very beneficial to the players and it makes a lot of sense. This would give those players the ability to get live game reps against strong competition. While it certainly won’t make up for a full lost year of development time, it at least gives the players the ability to have some form of a 2020 season.
If this plan came to fruition, I assume the rules for what type of prospects can participate would change. While another goal of the AFL is to help accelerate the development of prospects playing at or above High-A, the goal of this new plan would be all about getting reps after a lost 2020.
There’s a lot that has to be ironed out before this plan could potentially be finalized. Most notably, there still needs to be an agreement between owners and players for the MLB season before this plan could move forward into the more serious stages. The ripple effects from that could lead to a unique AFL season.
Even though it might be a little while before this plan moves forward, let’s take a look at what an all White Sox roster would look like.
Infield
C: Carlos Perez/Seby Zavala
1B: Andrew Vaughn
2B: Laz Rivera
SS: Yolbert Sanchez
3B: Jake Burger
The first infielder that comes to mind is Andrew Vaughn. He was rumored to be starting the season at Double-A and has been a quick riser thus far in his career. The White Sox will definitely want to get him reps and continue his quick ascension to the majors. Vaughn is obviously an important prospect for the White Sox and he will hold down first base for many years on the South Side of Chicago, so sending him to participate would be an easy decision.
Another prospect who could participate in this league is Jake Burger, although his case is a little tricky. He hasn’t played since 2017 and this spring he was participating in minor league camp. It seemed like he would finally get back on the field this year. The tough part with his case is that in addition to not playing since 2017, he also hasn’t played above Low-A. Facing off against the talent that would be in this league would be tough for Burger, but allowing him to get the reps would be really important. Since the AFL uses a DH, I would expect Burger to be penciled in there quite a bit, so he wouldn’t have to play in the field constantly and put the extra stress on his body.
Yolbert Sanchez makes sense due to his age and because he’s only played with the Dominican Summer League affiliate since signing with the organization. When he signed, scouts mentioned that his glove was MLB ready at the time. However, his bat needed to improve quite a bit. Missing a full season hurts Sanchez since he’s 23 years old, but allowing him to play in the AFL would give him the opportunity to play against competition closer to his age, which is something he hasn’t done yet.
Another middle infielder that could get an opportunity is Laz Rivera. Rivera already has AFL experience, but he also has the ability to play multiple positions. He could slide over to third base and give Burger a break from playing the field. His offensive game has been quiet since the 2018 season, but his versatility would be valuable in a league like this.
I’m excluding Nick Madrigal from this roster because if the MLB allows teams to have extended rosters, he is a guy that could help contribute to the big league club this season.
Behind the plate, Carlos Perez and Seby Zavala are two names that could be added to the roster. I’m excluding Zack Collins and Yermin Mercedes from this roster for the same reason as Madrigal. While you could make a case to put Zavala in the category of guys that can help out the big league club, I would put him third in line behind Collins and Mercedes as to the order in which they would be called upon to help.
Gavin Sheets could also warrant some consideration for time at first base and DH.
Outfield
LF: Luis Gonzalez
CF: Luis Alexander Basabe
RF: Micker Adolfo
Micker Adolfo is the first outfielder that comes to mind. Adolfo recently spoke with our Clinton Cole for a podcast where he talked about feeling healthy and that a lot of his struggles after coming back from injury were due to him not getting enough at-bats. Despite the struggles, Adolfo mentions that he still feels confident in himself. He hasn’t had much work in the field recently, so this would also be an opportunity for Adolfo to get reps in the outfield as well.
Joining Adolfo is Luis Basabe, another outfield prospect that has dealt with some injuries and inconsistencies throughout his career. Basabe struggled to stay healthy in 2019 and when he did play, his performance was underwhelming with a lot of swings and misses. He’s flooded with tools and still has an opportunity to carve out some role down the road, so sending him here to continue to work on his development is an easy choice.
The White Sox won’t have to look further than Birmingham to finalize their outfielders for the AFL, as I believe Luis Gonzalez would get a spot as well. The group of outfielders struggled in the Southern League, which is a tough place to hit. Even though Gonzalez would be facing off against top pitching prospects in Arizona, he can build up his confidence if he finds success and look to bounce back after a down 2019 season.
With an outfield spot possibly still up for grabs at the big league level, the White Sox need to continue to see what they have in these players (plus Blake Rutherford, who also makes sense on this roster). These guys need to show that they can overcome their struggles, and 2020 was supposed to be a big year for them.
With it being all but official that there won’t be a minor league season, these players will have to use the Fall League to show that they are ready to move forward in their development.
Starting pitchers
Jonathan Stiever, Dane Dunning, Garrett Crochet, Bernardo Flores, Konnor Pilkington
For starting pitchers, I would expect to see guys like Jonathan Stiever, Dane Dunning, and Garrett Crochet get some starts under their belts. With Dunning coming back from Tommy John and needing an innings limit, you could pencil in another starter to take over for him after a few innings. If the White Sox want to implement a standard five man rotation Bernardo Flores and Konnor Pilkington are two names I could see being in the mix.
The White Sox have a lot of starting pitchers that they would want to get innings for in a league like this. Maybe they can get creative and have another starting pitcher come in for a few innings of relief after the starter is done. They could rotate roles for the pitchers, having one start one week and then used in relief the following week. However, with guys like Dunning, Stiever and even Crochet who are very important arms in the system, I feel like it would be beneficial to get them most of their work in a starting role.
Other notable starting pitchers who could get some innings: Jimmy Lambert, Kade McClure, Taylor Varnell
Bullpen
Tyler Johnson, Zack Burdi, Jacob Lindgren, Ian Hamilton
All of these guys have dealt with various injuries over the last few years. Sending them to participate in a fall league makes a lot of sense. It would give them an opportunity to see some action before what will hopefully be a standard minor league season next year.
Lindgren had Tommy John surgery twice before making his way to the White Sox farm system in 2019. He remained healthy throughout the year, starting in the AZL and ended at Winston-Salem. He’s a former top pitching prospect in the Yankees organization and has a little bit of MLB experience, but with him missing all of 2017 and 2018, he will need to make up for the lost time in 2020.
Other notable bullpen arms who could get some innings: Alec Hansen, Will Kincanon, Andrew Perez, Bennett Sousa
In the same report from Baseball America, they mentioned that there has also been a conversation about having a second, lower-level team for each club but still, nothing is finalized. This would be a better fit for incoming prep players, as well as the prospects that have been floating around rookie level ball and Low-A.
The lower-level team is where we would see guys like Matthew Thompson, Andrew Dalquist, Jared Kelley, Bryce Bush, Lenyn Sosa, DJ Gladney and Jose Rodriguez among the potential participants. Additionally, if they wanted to make the transition back to the field easier for Burger, this could be the team that he sees the field with. The White Sox continue to add young talent to the farm system, most notably in pitchers, so this lower level team would definitely be fun to keep an eye on.
Without knowing what the stipulations will be for the season and the rosters, it’s difficult to gauge who would be allowed to participate in a league like this. Obviously the plan for this league would have to be finalized as well, but if most of these players are able to participate, the White Sox would have exciting team(s) to follow in the AFL.
I really like this proposed idea and I think it’s the most logical way to get a lot of minor league players on the field in what looks like a lost year. Of course, there’s the possibility that they can play games at the spring training complexes, too, while the regular MLB season is going on, but this league would allow for more structure and give these players some feelings of normalcy.
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